Elmo Rautio

Elmo Rautio was born in 1991 in Haukipudas, Finland. He began making films with an old camcorder when he was just 10 years old. He finished his first fully edited short film when he was 12. Rautio has a background in theatre. Both of his parents are amateur actors in local theatre. Rautio has been acting since he was 6 years old and became a director when he was 17. After being director in theatre for three years he decided to go back in movies. In 2010 he began making short films with his small 4-H youth theatre group. Thus began the story of Asemafilmi. In 2011 Rautio made his first full length feature film The Groke (Mörkö). The film was inspired by popular children television show Moomin (1990) which traumatized many children in 1990's. Rautio decided to make it as a psychological horror film instead of creature feature, thus making it more a work of his own. Asemafilmi YouTube channel was created to promote the film and in December 2011 the actual film was released. The Groke was unexpected hit and is still one of the most viewed Finnish independent horror films online. As a response to audience desire for a sequel, Rautio made a short film Mörkö 2 - paluu in following year. The film was supposed to be a tong-in-cheek parody of horror sequels, although Rautio considers it to be a failure. For his actors request, Rautio began making a short comedy films in form of holiday specials. Aseman Lasten Joulutarina (2012) was a small-scale Christmas special filled with inside jokes and actors portraying themselves. Due to modest success in YouTube, a stand-alone sequel was made in 2013 in form of a Halloween special. Although Halloween is not widely celebrated in Finland, Aseman Lasten Halloween (2013) received praise from the fans and is still one among the most viewed videos in Asemafilmi's YouTube channel. In 2013 Rautio made The Lady of the Cold (Jäärouva) which can be seen as a true follow-up to The Gorke. The Lady of the Cold was also inspired by Moomin series, although this time it was more heavily influenced by the original children's book Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson. The film was shot in just three days in Rautio's late great grandmother's old country house. Being considered as more mature and visually appealing than the previous works, the film was well-received and was voted as the best Asemafilmi production in December 2013 by the fans. The film also got decent reviews from online film critics. In 2014 Rautio began working his biggest production yet. Black Spring (Musta kevät) was inspired by Rautio's own real life experiences dealing with the sickness and sudden death of his mother in-law. It was the first Asemafilmi production that included several filming locations instead of just one or two. Black Spring was praised for it's story, a performance by Tuuli Kankaala and emotional impact. It was the first Asemafilmi production to have a public screening. After Black Spring, most of the actors graduated from a high school causing breakup of the original group. Rautio also left 4-H meaning he would not be payed for his work anymore. At the time Rautio was suffering from depression and PTSD symptoms due to unjust arrest by police that took place in 2010. He stopped film making for more than two years. During his break from film-making Rautio began interested in urban exploration. His experiences inspired him to go back in film making. In October 2016 a found footage horror film Raakavedos was released, marking his return to independent film production.